Parliament, Saturday, 2 November 2024 – The Portfolio Committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs today expressed concern over the looming deadline for resetting electricity prepaid meters while over 300 000 meters still need to be reset.
The Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs updated the committee on the progress of this process. Dr Kevin Naidoo, the department’s Deputy Director-General for Policy, Governance and Administration, told the committee that there are about three weeks (23 days) until the 24 November deadline.
There are about 12 million Standard Transfer Specification (STS) electricity prepaid meters in the country, of which 6.8 million are managed by Eskom and over 4.6 million are managed by municipalities. STS is the global standard for transferring electricity and other utility prepayment tokens. All prepaid meters based on STS technology will stop dispensing electricity by the 24 November deadline, meaning no new electricity credit will be able to be loaded onto the system unless the prepayment meter is updated or reset before the deadline.
Dr Naidoo informed the committee that over 90% of the meters have been reset as of today, leaving 8.5% outstanding. He told the committee that most of the outstanding meters may be non-vending meters, including tampered and illegal meters. Estimates from a study conducted by the South African Local Government Association indicate that these meters pose a significant risk of revenue loss, potentially exceeding R8 billion.
The committee acknowledged the progress made by the department, municipalities and Eskom but stressed the crucial role of all parties in ensuring that the municipalities meet the deadline. “We are also concerned about the level of cooperation among the municipalities. We understand the urgency of meeting the deadline, but we strongly urge the department to ensure that all municipalities fully cooperate with this process,” said Dr Zweli Mkhize, committee Chairperson.
The committee also expressed concern over the estimated R8 billion revenue loss due to illegal and tampered prepaid boxes. “That’s a huge amount, and we hope that something is going to be done to deal with that,” the Chairperson said. The committee was concerned that if the non-vending meters are not identified and steps are taken, it will continue, which means they will continue creating a risk of losing electricity without anyone paying for it.
The committee was also surprised to hear that there are certain no-go areas where municipalities cannot physically intervene to upgrade the meters. The committee suggested that in these cases, municipalities must work with the police.
The committee also asked for a guarantee that no community or residents would suffer due to this upgrading process. Members also asked about the cost of the process and were assured that the costs are not extreme enough to present a burden. The committee also asked for another update closer to the deadline.
“Our concern is how all this could affect communities if it were not properly executed,” said the Chairperson. “We note the progress that has been made, but we remain concerned about the deadline that is approaching, and we want the department to come back around the deadline with an update report that tells us where things are so that we can be sure no one is left behind,” Dr Mkhize said.
ISSUED BY THE PARLIAMENTARY COMMUNICATION SERVICES ON BEHALF OF THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON COOPERATIVE GOVERNANCE AND TRADITIONAL AFFAIRS, DR ZWELI MKHIZE.
For media enquiries or interviews with the Chairperson, please contact the committee’s media officer:
Name: Alicestine October (Ms)
Cell: 083 665 4345
E-mail: aoctober@parliament.gov.za
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